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The Globo network, accused of avoiding R$ 1 billion in taxes by Miguel do Rosário of the blog O Cafezinho, has yet to respond to a note published 72 hours ago and signed by the PSB state and local leadership of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) in João Pessoa.

The note comes as a response to a segment on Sunday’s Fantástico, on the Globo network, which states: in part:

What is worse is that not only does the system not work, according to a special report by Globo’s Fantástico, much of the equipment, acquired during Coutinho’s term as mayor, was overpriced.

The party leaders have issued a joint statement defending Paraiba governor Ricardo Coutinho, who was cited this weekend in Globo TV programs broadcast through its retransmitter TV Cabo Branco and by the Folha de São Paulo.

Coutinho is accused of favoring the Internet project Jampa Digital with state funding during the 2010 election campaign, in which the current governor was running for office.

But wait. The press office of the federal police has not yet announced the busts reported on here — reported without identifying sources, as is its habit. Selective leaking is not unheard of in federal police circles. It is, in fact, practically an Olympic sport. The PF press office seems to be busy with announcements of vast drug confiscations at the moment … and more power to them.

The PSB note in its entirety follows :

What lies behind Globo’s attacks on comrade Ricardo Coutinho?

The history of Globo in Brazilian politics is an egregious example of a media organization that has also served as a lackey to power, lacking any commitment to democracy. In March 1994, a lawsuit gave Leonel Brizola the right to broadcast, during the Jornal Nacional, a letter in which he stated. “I do not recognize Globo as an example of freedom of the press.”

This was an unforgettable moment in Brazilian media history: A gloomy Cid Moreira staring into the black hole of the teleprompter and delivering the blistering rhetoric of the legendary leftist.

In those elections, Globo falsified poll and election results in a bid to do away with Brizola. At one paint, the network’s voting tables were actually caught registering negative vote counts in some areas?

During the elections of 2010, election polls were manipulated. Here in Paraíba everyone recalls how Ibope, hired by TV Cabo Branco, at no time reflected the possibility of a victory by Ricardo.

On the contrary: it said that Maranhão would prevail in the first turn. What is curious is that the business group headed by Eduardo Carlos had a R$7 million debt that was pardoned by the Maranhão government in its final days. It was left to Ricardo, as governor, to collect the sum owed to the people of Paraiba.

Now, TV Globo (that is, TV Cabo Branco e TV Paraíba) is trying to do to Ricardo Coutinho what it did to Brizola. What is interesting is that the Folha de São Paulo would join Globo in this venture in order to reflect badly on Eduardo Campos, national president of the PSB and a potential candidate for the presidency.

The PSB will not accept this! The people should not be left at the mercy of a TV network whose past and present are so alien to the democratic struggle of popular forces and the struggle for the establishment of socialism.

Taking the matter up with the public prosecutor is the proper path for a democratic and objective investigation. We have nothing to fear.

Truth will out!!

A sample of the relevant coverage by TV Cabo Blanco/Globo follows.

Federal police indicted 23 persons for alleged irregularities in the Jampa Digital project, a network that would bring free Internet to the people of João Pessoa. The PF conclued that resources from the project were diverted to finance the campaign of the current governor of Paraiba, Ricardo Coutinho (PSB) and his running mate, Rômulo Gouveia (PSD).

The federal police said that a front company, Brickell, paid the salaries of those who worked on the campaign of the New Paraíba coalition, under the auspices of current governor Ricardo Coutinho (PSB) and his running mate, Rômulo Gouveia (PSD). Documents show that even though the salary was paid by Brickell, the worker’s employment record was stamped by MKPol Marketing Político.

The Paraiban governor’s press office said that when those indicted are subjected to an investigation by the federal prosecutor, those persons will present their defense, but will not comment on the most recent accusations.

The defense of publicist Duda Mendonça says he had no involvement with the companies mentioned. Attorney Antônio Carlos da Silva Castro said his client only worked on the Coutinho campaign and that he had no authority over the actions under investigation.

Mendonça is a legendary character in Brazilian PR — the man who elected Lula in 2002 … and helped mire his client in the muck of the “monthly payola” scandal.

The moral of this story, from a political marketing standpoint, is “When in doubt, bash Globo as hard as you can.” From the viewpoint of a reader seeking a clear account of established facts, the motto is “abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”